Tracking a $20M Install: Picking a Control System

awesome

A difficult choice indeed. I think I probably would have made the same. Good job and good luck Mark. Call if you need help.
Chris Porter

Fallout? It’s not like you picked X10…

Sad a consultant would need to try out different control systems at this point in the game. A real consultant would know the ins and outs of all systems and know what is right for each project. I agree Control4 is most likely the right product for this project, based on what you have ststed the BUDGET is. I am a dealer for all 3 and the only thing that would make the decision is budget. Savant and Crestron don’t compete with Control4. Some clients are Control4 clients and others are Crestron/Savant. Features didn’t make this decision budget did. You will get 70% of the functionality for 40% of the budget.

Are you serious “Budget” That is the most ridiculous statement you could have made. A consultant looks at all options, discovers the capabilities and doesn’t let bias or personal opinion play into a decision. Cost factors into every part of the decision making process and of course is going to be the final factor but if one system was vastly greater than the other then price would take the lesser role.

Control4 will be more then capable of doing everything the client needs.

I would assume Mark is referring to fall out as the Control4 haters will start to post how nothing will work except Crestron blah blah etc etc

Good choice!

Dealers need to live in the hear and now, consultants need to live for tomorrow.  I work with manufacturers and they will let me look behind the curtain to see what I will be using 6 months and a year from now. 
The new 2.0 system from Control4 will allow me to satisfy 100% of my clients needs and still fit well in to my budget.  Custom Graphics, new apps and user interfaces, if you could see what I have seen (and you will shortly) you might have made the same decision.  My job is to look ahead while still making sure the system isn’t a beta site, with so many changes in technology outside our channel, many are now starting to filter in to multiple products lines and manufacturers.

Nice choice, Mark.  Speaking as a dealer who offers both Crestron and Control4, with everything taken into account (including budget), I would have made the same choice when it came to the control system.
We’ve been hired to fix installations of both control systems, and if they are both designed correctly, both will be rock solid.

Nice choice Mark, looking forward to reading more and more about this project.

Nice to see you are not taking too much heat on this so far, Mark.

I can identify with the temptation to use the Crestron DM solution, as it really makes your work on HDMI transmitters, receivers, upscalers, audio separation and 2 channel downmixing much easier.

I actually applaud your effort to do more engineering to find a system that fits the needs and budget of the project.

In my experience, many firms start with the idea that the client’s budget will have to be expanded, and ignore those figures.  They then pitch a system that fits their own needs and processes and try to meet somewhere between the 50 pts they want to make, and the clients original figure.  I call that the shoehorn approach.

I know this client went direct to some integrators before you were involved, and discovered just that.  No one cared what he wanted, they cared about what they wanted to sell.  So he threw up his hands and hired an advocate.

Everyone remember that Mark works on a flat fee, and probably gets paid for his recommendation despite what solution the homeowner chooses.

It would be very easy for him to take a check, do some research, and plug in DM as the fit as all the engineering is done by the big C already.  Then he could tell the client that’s your best bet, you need to step up the budget.

Instead he is doing what is in the interest of the client, despite the extra work and his inability to charge any more for it.

I believe that this type of service is what brings return clients and referrals and will ultimately bring huge ROI on the extra time spent this time.

Sorry, where is the budget stated?
Control4 is definitely a force to be reckoned with. I am more partial to Crestron, especially for a project of this size, but no one can deny the extraordinary ambition and aggressiveness Control4 has shown in building a product that can handle the vast majority of customer needs at a lower price point.

You picked Control4 for a 20 million dollar project?  Good luck.  Let me know how that works for you.  We were dealers for all three but after going to multiple jobs where other C4 dealers were used and the product never completely came through we have moved on.  Plus it does not have the look or the capabilities of today’s more sophisticated control systems.  It always seems to make C4 do everything the clients are expecting out of a large system there has to be lots of “rigging” to make it work.  I thought you said you didn’t want the project to be a beta site? 
Good Luck!

Good Luck with Control4!!! We have been a dealer from its beginning and we have had our fair shares of upgrades some work and some dont. I hope it works out for you we wont even attempt a house over 8000sqft with control4 anymore. We prefer Vantage or AMX for our large jobs. I will be following this to see how it goes.

I am sorry, but I believe you are missing the most important part of any control system: Long Term Reliability.  You might have saved 40% on the front end, but it is your back end (post sale) cost that will put you out of business. 

“The bitterness of Poor Quality will be remembered long after the sweetness of a Low Price is forgotten”

@Brian
As one of the largest Control4 dealers in the Southwest, trust me when I say you can scale up Control4 to solidly control a project of this scope.

...And as far as your comment “Plus it does not have the look or the capabilities of today’s more sophisticated control systems.” you have yet to see the version2.0 software that will be releasing very soon.

If a system is designed correctly, regardless if it is Control4, Crestron, AMX or any others, then “rigging” isn’t neccessary.